A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience volunteering at Royal Family Kids’ Camp.  You can read about the importance of the program here.  I recently returned from another week at camp and as expected, returned physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and hesitant to re-enter my “normal” life knowing these kids returned to a life of loneliness, heartache, and continual disappointment.  Soon, I will re-learn how to hold conversations with people older than 8 years old.  I will stop expecting a hearty, kid-friendly meal at exactly 8 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 5:30 p.m..  I’ll be able to sleep through the night without having to escort a child with a small bladder to the bathroom at 4:00 am.  And I’ll stop “seeing” the children from camp at the grocery store, or McDonald’s, or Disneyland, my heart skipping a beat each time.   

Most of us have prized possessions and friendships from our childhood that we cherish well into our adult years.  Ask my older brother and sister and they’ll quickly share embarrassing stories about me clinging to three things - a stuffed polar bear (“Snowy”), flat blanket (not to be confused with Flat Stanley), and Grover.  Grover was identical to the Grover on Sesame Street, that is if Grover on Sesame Street was continually having to sew on his arms or legs, had to deal with fading plastic eyes, and made a habit of “showering” in the washing machine.  I outgrew those items (mostly) in elementary school and I bonded with my childhood best friends, John and Eric.  We spent our summers playing baseball in the front yard, saving our change to buy burritos at Taco Bell, and working out bartering agreements with our household supplies of chocolate milk.